Gold price logs first gain in 4 sessions, but still near 1½-year low as Turkey turmoil fades

New York (Aug 14)  A respite for the hard-hit Turkish lira was accompanied by a small gain for gold futures Tuesday, even as the U.S. dollar added to its 14-month peak.

December gold futures GCZ8, +0.22%  rose $1.80, or 0.2%, to $1,200.70 an ounce, its first gain in four sessions, while September silver SIU8, +0.49% added 7.1 cents, or 0.5%, to $15.053 an ounce.

Gold on Monday ended at a roughly 1 1/2-year low and below the psychologically important $1,200 level as Turkey’s currency crisis saw investors continue to seek safety in the U.S. dollar. The greenback’s strength, meanwhile, trumped the haven appeal of the yellow metal. A stronger dollar can be a negative for commodities priced in the currency, making them more expensive in other currency terms. The dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.42% rose 0.3% to 96.71 on Tuesday, hanging around a 14-month high for the index.

“There is a demand for profit-taking in the markets after powerful movements at the end of last week and a very aggressive trading start of the week,” wrote analysts at FxPro, in a Tuesday note.

The bounce appeared fragile, but dips below $1,200 an ounce have previously been met with buyers, particularly in Asia, wrote analysts at Commerzbank.

“ETF investors were still jettisoning their holdings yesterday, however. Gold in euro terms likewise fell sharply yesterday, shedding almost all of its gains from last Thursday and Friday again,” they wrote.

The lira rose against the dollar USDTRY, -7.7419%  a day after hitting an all-time low. The respite comes after the currency continued a slide following measures introduced by Turkey’s central bank to boost liquidity but that failed to stem the tide of selling.

Read: Strategists see 4 ways out of Turkey’s currency crisis

Gold’s weakness dragged down other metals on Monday, with platinum dropping to a 10-year low.

In Tuesday action, October platinum PLV8, +0.29%  added $2.20, or 0.3%, to settle at $801.70 an ounce, while September palladium PAU8, +0.89%  rose $9.10, or 1%, to end at $890 an ounce.

September copper futures HGU8, -1.70%  fell by 4.9 cents, or 1.8%, to close at $2.682 a pound.

MarketWatch